South Florida’s opera companies have made the transition from the model of opera companies that has obtained since the Roosevelts, Vanderbilts and Morgans helped found New York’s Metropolitan Opera House in 1880. Back then, opera was about society as much as it was the music. Twenty years ago in this area, opera-going was still in that Gilded Age mode: Anyone who was anyone … [Read more...]
New opera salutes Tesla, tragic scientific hero
The Serbian-born American inventor and electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla has become a hot property over the past couple decades, regaining something of the national recognition he enjoyed in his prime in the early 20th century, but this time as a counterculture hero. In addition to physics units, rock bands and electric cars being named for him, Tesla’s alternating-current … [Read more...]
Guitarist stands out at SOTA’s Summerfest concert at FAU
For 26 seasons now, James Brooks-Bruzzese has led members of his Symphony of the Americas and guest musicians from around the globe in a musical Summerfest that always includes performances in his native Panama. On Aug. 5 at the University Theatre on the campus of Florida Atlantic University, he and the group were back for another summer appearance, accompanied as they have … [Read more...]
Boca Ballet Theatre offers rich, varied summer program
Because it’s summertime, arts shows tend to get a more indulgent audience: Crowds are smaller, the big names and shows that come through are a few months away, and the youths involved in the various hot-months training programs show their stuff before the school year begins. On Aug. 6, Boca Ballet Theatre’s annual summer recital was presented in two programs at Spanish River … [Read more...]
Brilliant ‘Walküre’ stands out at MMF’s second Wagner night
Somewhere along the line, as he put together what he wanted to offer in his summer music festival in Miami, Michael Rossi hit upon a very smart idea. That was to set up a special training environment for singers to be coached for the operas of Richard Wagner, which for their length and epic natures, require voices with stamina and color in a way unlike the music of any other … [Read more...]
Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival launches 26th summer season
For the past 25 summers, local musicians have come together in three different parts of Palm Beach County for a four-week series of 12 concerts of chamber music, much of it unusual and rarely heard, though always worthy. The Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival, which debuted in 1992 at the Duncan Theatre, returns for another summer starting tomorrow night at the Persson … [Read more...]
Miami Music Festival’s fourth season includes Heggie opera, orchestral bash for Fourth
Starting tonight, the Miami Music Festival begins presenting productions from its Opera Institute, opening with Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales of Hoffmann. The opera repeats Saturday and alternates Friday night and Sunday afternoon with Leos Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen. Both operas will be presented at the festival’s home base at Barry University in Miami Shores, but … [Read more...]
Mainly Mozart closes with evocative, engaging ‘Jewish Bride’
For the past four years, the Mainly Mozart Festival in Coral Gables has ended its summer concerts of chamber music with a multimedia, multidisciplinary finale that includes video, guest artists and world premiere dances choreographed by a member of the Miami City Ballet. For as ambitious as that sounds, it’s a workable formula. Audiences show up in large numbers on a late … [Read more...]
Morikami to teach traditional Japanese instruments at summer camp
Since the opening of Japan to the West in 1868, the residents of that island nation arguably have sought more often to achieve excellence in Western styles of music instead of their own indigenous sonic heritage. But native Japanese music remains an important part of the culture, and this month, the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens in western Delray Beach will bring it … [Read more...]
In Detroit, Wynton Marsalis’s best piece
DETROIT — The compositions of Wynton Marsalis now extend to a substantial catalog in jazz and classical genres that includes many works for jazz ensembles, oratorios (Blood on the Fields, All Rise), a string quartet, sacred works (In This House, The Abyssinian Mass), numerous film and dance scores and four symphonies. This is a hugely impressive accomplishment, and the bulk … [Read more...]